In less than a month, Deweyville and its surrounding areas found themselves submerged by the rising waters of the Sabine River.
DEWEYVILLE, Texas — Rains this week flooded and damaged Deweyville’s roads, and back-to-back severe storms delayed crucial repairs.
“The roads on the river have backed up to the point where we had started repairs but were driven away,” said Newton County Commissioner Leanord Powell.
The flooding forced a large release of water at the Toledo Bend Reservoir, causing even more problems for residents in low-lying areas near the surrounding creeks and river.
In less than a month, Deweyville and its surrounding areas found themselves submerged by the rising waters of the Sabine River.
“They have 11 open gates, 2 feet. The Sabine River Authority forecast on the Sabine River here in Deweyville, shows a crest around Tuesday of 26.4 feet,” Powell said.
12News was on scene on County Road 4154, where people were trying to figure out if they should get out of their vehicles or go by boat due to rising waters.
“We’ve done face-to-face social checks with the people who live there. None of these people have water in their homes,” Powell said.
Powell said of nearly 30 flooded roads, seven of them remained underwater Friday.
“There’s nowhere for this water to go. The woods are all full, all the sewers are full,” Powell said.
Powell says the community is unfortunately no stranger to flooding, and that’s why he’s spent the last 15 months working to improve drainage.
“We cleaned up this major channel that brings water under Highway 87 to a drainage channel,” Powell said.
Powell says they’ve also adjusted how they repair the roads, hoping to make them more water-resistant.
“The limestone base material, the rains, the flash floods wash that material away much faster than the greenstone we’re using now. I don’t think we’ll have to start from scratch and we’ll see less of it.” damage,” Powell said.
Powell says the cost of road repairs is straining the county’s budget, which is why he hopes to qualify for Gov. Abbot’s disaster declaration.
“If we hit the $53 million threshold with the federal government, we should be able to get federal assistance for this event,” Powell said.
As the old saying goes, when it rains, it pours, and for Newton County residents, it certainly pours.
